This invention relates generally to receptacles and more particularly to a system for collecting used engine oil.
In order to collect used oil from an engine, such as an automobile engine, it has been a practice to place an open pan under the engine's oil outlet so that its oil can drain into the pan for subsequent disposal. This technique is obviously quite messy. There is commercially available a device for enabling the collection of used oil in a container. That device basically comprises a flattened, rectangularly shaped, hollow container having a funnel-shaped top wall to form a drain pan. At the lowest point in the top wall is a threaded opening onto which a threaded cap may be screwed. The device is arranged to be used as follows: with the cap removed the device is placed under the engine oil outlet so that the oil draining from the engine flows onto the funnel-shaped top wall, down that top wall and into the threaded opening into the interior of the container. The cap can then be screwed over the opening to prevent oil from getting out of the container. The container also includes a handle at one end thereof to enable it to be readily transported. This unitary drain pan-collector device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,449, and is sold by Gott Corporation, of Winfield, Kans.
While the unitary drain pan-collector device as described above is generally suitable for its intended purposes, it nevertheless exhibits various drawbacks. In this connection, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, some oil will necessarily remain on the surface of the funnel-shaped top wall after the bulk of the oil has been introduced within the container and sealed therein by threading the cap on the opening. This oil can soil the user's clothing if the container's top wall touches the clothing. In addition, the oil can drip onto the floor of the garage or other area in which the engine is located. Obviously, this presents a considerable drawback. Moreover, with the prior art container one cannot see how much oil is in the container. Due to this, it is impractical to try to change the oil from more than one car before the container is transported and emptied.